I've bought and sold several houses and, for the most recent one, finally decided to skip realtors.
Best and easiest $21k I've ever made (saved).
RE agents have some value. Maybe $1-2k? For convenience, paperwork preparation, etc. Similar to a lawyer.
But I sold our house in record time, at a price that was good for both us and the buyers. No games of telephone, just meeting and sending emails directly to one another. The lawyer does the actual legal work, the agent mostly just prepares PDFs. The various PDFs took me maybe a couple of hours total to get together.
Best and easiest $21k I've ever made (saved).
RE agents have some value. Maybe $1-2k? For convenience, paperwork preparation, etc. Similar to a lawyer.
But I sold our house in record time, at a price that was good for both us and the buyers. No games of telephone, just meeting and sending emails directly to one another. The lawyer does the actual legal work, the agent mostly just prepares PDFs. The various PDFs took me maybe a couple of hours total to get together.